so I brewed up my first mini-mash yesterday and of course, I forget to take a sample to figure out what my efficiency was going to be. Doh!
Question on sparging, the directions said to maintain the water level 2" above the mash, the recirculate 3 times, then slowly drain it out but maintain the 2" level. Only problem is, they told me to use 2 gal for sparge wate and I never reached a level 2" over the grain. I used all the sparge water before starting recirculation so there was nothing left to maintain any level. My efficiency will probably be crap so maybe it's a good thing I forgot to take a sample. From what I read, most of the fermentables will come from the LME anyway....

so I brewed up my first mini-mash yesterday and of course, I forget to take a sample to figure out what my efficiency was going to be. Doh!
Question on sparging, the directions said to maintain the water level 2" above the mash, the recirculate 3 times, then slowly drain it out but maintain the 2" level. Only problem is, they told me to use 2 gal for sparge wate and I never reached a level 2" over the grain. I used all the sparge water before starting recirculation so there was nothing left to maintain any level. My efficiency will probably be crap so maybe it's a good thing I forgot to take a sample. From what I read, most of the fermentables will come from the LME anyway....

Yes the majority of the fermentables will be from the extract. Take a look at this article pertaining to Partial Mashes. The idea is to add 1¼ quarts of water to each pound of cracked grain. If you're going to recirculate, pour about one quart into a container then add it back into the top of your mash. This is where you try to keep the water level just above your grain bed. Do this slowly as to prevent channeling. I use a ladle. As the article mentions, to batch sparge, drain the wort out of the grains into your brew pot. Then, add the new hot water and stir again. Wait a few minutes and drain that into your brew pot as well. As I said above, I use a ladle and add my sparge water as I'm draining my mash. This is also where you try to keep the water level just above your grain bed.

Good luck, wild

__________________On Tap -

3 year old Oak Aged Bourbon Porter

Irish Red Rye

Robust Porter

Russian Imperial Stout

Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Citra

Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Centennial

Primary - Nada
Secondary -

From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world. -- Saint Arnoldus

Yes the majority of the fermentables will be from the extract. Take a look at this article pertaining to Partial Mashes. The idea is to add 1¼ quarts of water to each pound of cracked grain. If you're going to recirculate, pour about one quart into a container then add it back into the top of your mash. This is where you try to keep the water level just above your grain bed. Do this slowly as to prevent channeling. I use a ladle. As the article mentions, to batch sparge, drain the wort out of the grains into your brew pot. Then, add the new hot water and stir again. Wait a few minutes and drain that into your brew pot as well. As I said above, I use a ladle and add my sparge water as I'm draining my mash. This is also where you try to keep the water level just above your grain bed.

Good luck, wild

So I have 3 lbs of grain so I mix it with 3.75 qts of water. Once the oatmeal-like substance is all in the mash tun, how I do I know how much water I'm adding in order to just cover the grain bed? I guess I could boil up 3 or so more gallons of water and then use what I need then use the leftover water to top off when I'm adding it all to the primary after I'm done brewing. yes/no?

Starting out with the amount of boil water works best. Just add your measured strike water first then add your grains or vice-versa, its up to you. Once the grain and water are together, dough-in by stirring in the grains so that there are no dry clumps. After 30 or so minutes you can recirculate. When you recirculate, you'll just pull up to a quart of sweet wort from the bottom of your mash and then gently add it back to the top of your mash. Once conversion is complete, add (sparge) 170°F water gently to the top of your grain bed at the same rate that you are draining your sweet wort into your boil pot. Once your sparge is complete, top up your boil pot to whatever amount of water level you want to boil then proceed with the boil.

Good luck,
Wild

__________________On Tap -

3 year old Oak Aged Bourbon Porter

Irish Red Rye

Robust Porter

Russian Imperial Stout

Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Citra

Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Centennial

Primary - Nada
Secondary -

From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world. -- Saint Arnoldus

I'm really lazy sometimes and mini-mashes are a great way to get AG flavors with a lot less work. What I do is put the grains in a huge mesh bag & mash. Then I dump all the rest of the water (at 168F) into the tun, stir the grain gently for five minutes, pull the bag out and let it drain.

__________________

Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"